HerSoul American & Latin restaurant to open soon in Peroles space on lower Campbell Ave. in West Haven

By Mark Zaretsky

Updated
8:50 pm EST, Wednesday, January 10, 2018

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Karen May of HerSoul, the new restaurant that will replace Peroles at 93 Campbell Ave. in West Haven, addresses the West Haven Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.

Media: New Haven Register

WEST HAVEN — What for the past few years has been Peroles Restaurant & Bar at 93 Campbell Ave. soon will be a new American and Latin restaurant called HerSoul, with a new menu — albeit with some of Peroles’ old Colombian favorites — and a new owner in Karen May.

The Planning and Zoning Commission this week unanimously approved May’s application for a restaurant liquor permit, after first hearing from several neighbors concerned about nightlife activity at Peroles in the recent past that they said went beyond what it was approved for.

May, who lives in Danbury but is planning to move her family to West Haven, sought to reassure the zoning commission, telling members that she had no intention to run anything other than a family style restaurant with a bar.

“It’s going to be American Latin cuisine and we’re also going to have a happy hour menu,” she said.

For her appearance before the West Haven Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, soon-to-be HerSoul owner Karen May wore a bracelet bearing the name of her new restaurant.What for the past few years has been Peroles Restaurant & Bar at 93 Campbell Ave. in West Haven doon will re-emerge as an American and Latin restaurant called HerSoul, with a new menu -- albeit with some of Peroles' old Colombian favorites -- and a new owner in May. less

For her appearance before the West Haven Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, soon-to-be HerSoul owner Karen May wore a bracelet bearing the name of her new restaurant.What for the past few ... more

Photo: Mark Zaretsky / Hearst Connecticut Media /

Photo: Mark Zaretsky / Hearst Connecticut Media /

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For her appearance before the West Haven Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, soon-to-be HerSoul owner Karen May wore a bracelet bearing the name of her new restaurant.What for the past few years has been Peroles Restaurant & Bar at 93 Campbell Ave. in West Haven doon will re-emerge as an American and Latin restaurant called HerSoul, with a new menu -- albeit with some of Peroles' old Colombian favorites -- and a new owner in May. less

For her appearance before the West Haven Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, soon-to-be HerSoul owner Karen May wore a bracelet bearing the name of her new restaurant.What for the past few ... more

Photo: Mark Zaretsky / Hearst Connecticut Media /

HerSoul American & Latin restaurant to open soon in Peroles space on lower Campbell Ave. in West Haven

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HerSoul will be open noon to 9 p.m. Sundays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, she said.

It will have “no entertainment” and will be “just a restaurant and a bar — that’s it,” May said.

May said after the meeting, “I hear their concerns and it’s a concern for me. But I want them to judge me” based on herself, not on what preceded her, she said. “I just want to have a place where people can come in,” sit down “and have a good meal,” she said.

A working menu May had with her showed a mix of Latin specialities, such as empanadas, ceviche, “pollo a la parilla” (marinated, grilled chicken) and Colombian-style fried tilapia and American dishes such as Philly cheese steaks, burgers, Cobb salad and barbecued ribs.

The PZC’s approval Tuesday night carried with it four conditions: that HerSoul operate only during the hours proposed, that it have no entertainment or live music loud enough to be detectable by neighbors — with any special events requiring Planning and Zoning approval — that any changes to the floor plan come before zoning and that May maintain the appearance of the building.

May is buying the business from the Osorno family, who have served Colombian and Nuevo Latino food at Peroles for several years.

She said she expects to close on the deal around the end of January.

Jay Osorno and Dario Osorno Jr., sons of Peroles owner Dario Osorno Sr., said Peroles, which shares a city-owned parking lot with Biagetti’s Restaurant, will remain open until then.

Jay Osorno said some of the best things about Peroles will remain, as May intends to hire Peroles’ chef as one of her employees and also plans to retain several of the favorite dishes on her new menu.

While Jay Osorno acknowledged that there had been some issues with the city regarding nightlife that the restaurant, working with an outside promoter, tried out, he said the reason Peroles is closing is that his father has had some health issues, wants to move back to Colombia and “we just want to go to another plan.”

Jay Osorno said he plans to go back to college.

With regard to night club entertainment that bothered some neighbors, Osorno said, “We tried that for a little while,” but “it didn’t work out.”

“We’re ready to move on with the next journey” and “we want to give it to someone who is passionate, and Karen seems like the right candidate,” he said. “We’re excited for her!”

It is less highly-regarded by some of its neighbors, three of whom spoke at Tuesday night’s zoning hearing.

Park Street neighbor Valerie Guadino said she witnessed fights and other problems outside Peroles. She also said there have been broader neighborhood problems — she has had people defecate and get sick in front of her house.

“Park Street is changing,” she said. “I’ve been there for over 20-30 years” and “it’s not changing for the better.”

Park Street resident Nelson Rivera, who has lived there since 1996, said he has seen “a lot of things ... going on” and “the restaurant’s not liable once the people leave,” although he mentioned one other bar in the neighborhood as a source of occasional trouble.

“It’s the aftermath that we have to deal with as homeowners,” he said.

When there’s a problem, police respond, but “we don’t want another one,” he said.

Assistant City Planner David Killeen said the basic problem the city had with Peroles was that “there were night club activities.”

Zoning Enforcement Officer Cathy Conniff said that West Haven Fire Department Fire Marshal Keith Flood essentially ordered Peroles to cease nightclub activities after the restaurant was found to be overcrowded.

“They had too many people” and were staying open too late, Conniff said. “The Fire Department shut them down.”

Flood could not immediately be contacted.

Conniff and Killeen said that what separated Peroles’ activity from other restaurants that occasionally have events was that it was working with an outside promoter and, according to Killeen, “it was all over the Internet.”

The crowds that responded prompted complaints and after police came in, “they were ordered to cease that activity,” said Killeen. “The restaurant itself was not the problem. It was the after-hours activities.”